MEDICAL DATA STORAGE SERVER

• US 20110161112A1
• Filed: 11/29/2010
• Published: 06/30/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Codonics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Codonics Incorporated
• Inventors: Langan, Michael, Mucher, Stephen N., Goodman, Ross, Enos, Gary W., Gilbert, Alan J., Tainer, Christopher M., Edwards, Richard M., Spencer, Jeffrey L., Keefe, Gary, Bauman, Aaron A., Seto, Garvin
• Application Number:
  US12/955,874
• Publication Number:
  US 20110161112A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/3
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/60 for patient-specific data, e.g. for electronic patient records
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation

Abstract

Provided is a method of documenting a medical procedure including receiving medical data captured during the medical procedure to be documented. Information indicative of an identity of at least one of a patient that is a subject of the medical procedure and a physician involved with the medical procedure is received. The medical data is stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium associated with the at least one of the patient and the physician. Access to the medical data stored on the computer readable medium is restricted, allowing the physician involved with the medical procedure to subsequently retrieve the medical data stored in the computer readable medium and view the medical data retrieved. Restricting access to the recorded medical data prevents another physician, who may not have been involved in the medical procedure, from viewing the medical data without first entering information indicative of authorization to view the medical data.

Claims

1. A method of documenting a medical procedure, the method comprising:

receiving medical data captured during the medical procedure to be documented;

receiving information indicative of an identity of at least one of a patient that is a subject of the medical procedure and a physician involved with the medical procedure;

storing the medical data in a non-transitory computer readable medium associated with the at least one of the patient and the physician;

restricting access to the medical data, wherein said restricting allows the physician involved with the medical procedure to subsequently retrieve the medical data stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium and view the medical data retrieved, and prevents another physician from viewing the medical data without entering information indicative of authorization to view the medical data.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising transmitting the medical data over the communication network to be reproduced by a presentation device for audience.

3. The method according to claim 2 further comprising transmitting contextual information to be presented to the audience with the medical data.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the medical procedure is conducted in a medical procedure area, and the presentation device is remotely located and external to the medical procedure area.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the contextual information comprises at least one of:

a patient name, location of the medical procedure, a current time of the medical procedure, a date of the medical procedure, a start time of the medical procedure, an identification of the physician involved with the medical procedure, an indication of a nature of the medical procedure, and a progress indicator.

6. The method according to claim 2 further comprising transmitting content for generating an overlay to shield a portion of the medical data from view by the audience.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the overlay comprises a computer-generated image that conceals the portion of the medical data from view, wherein the computer-generated image is not embedded in the medical data stored in the non-transitory computer readable medium.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein a position of the overlay over the medical data is selectable by an operator.

9. The method according to claim 2 further comprising excluding a patient name from the medical data to be reproduced by the presentation device for the audience.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said storing the medical data is captured with a medical data recording device, said method further comprising:

receiving an association between the medical data and the at least one of the patient and the physician established and transmitted by a recording device used to capture the medical data; and

storing the medical data associated with the at least one of the patient and physician.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein said receiving the association comprises:

receiving, at a storage server comprising a network-accessible computer readable medium, the medical data;

separately receiving, at the storage server, information indicative of the identity of the at least one of the patient and the physician to be associated with the medical data; and

establishing at the storage server, an association between the medical data and the at least one of the patient and the physician.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein said storing the medical data comprises storing the medical data in compliance with a standardized medical image format.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the standardized medical image format is a DICOM standard.

14. The method according to claim 1 further comprising serving content to an interface for presenting an operator with a query tool for searching for an identity of the patient.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the query tool is to search a database of electronic medical records associated with patients receiving medical care at a health care facility using data input by the operator via the interface.

16. The method according to claim 1 further comprising serving content to an interface for presenting an operator with a query tool for searching for an identity of the physician.

17. The method according to claim 16 further comprising:

receiving selection data input entered by the operator via the interface;

returning at least one possible matching physician corresponding to the selection data; and

receiving confirmation of the identity of the physician from the operator entered via the interface.